Ishiba: Japan should promote nuke abolition under NPT

Jiji Press, Philippine News Agency

Ishiba once considered sending a Japanese representative as an observer to a meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which the United States and other nuclear powers have not joined. But the Japanese government dropped the plan later. (File Photo: Shigeru Ishiba/Facebook)

NAGASAKI – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday reiterated his view that his country should strive for a world without nuclear weapons within the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, signed by both nuclear powers and non-nuclear states.

“Unless we discuss with nuclear powers, we can’t eliminate or reduce nuclear weapons,” Ishiba told a news conference in Nagasaki after attending a memorial ceremony on the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the southwestern Japan city.

Ishiba once considered sending a Japanese representative as an observer to a meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which the United States and other nuclear powers have not joined. But the Japanese government dropped the plan later.

“We have two responsibilities: To the people and the world,” Ishiba said at the press conference, referring to national security and nuclear disarmament.

He expressed his commitment to pursue both objectives.

When asked whether to certify as hibakusha atomic bomb survivors individuals who were affected by the atomic bombing outside the government-designated areas for hibakusha support, Ishiba explained that the government has been providing such individuals with medical expense subsidies equivalent to those for certified hibakusha since December last year. (Jiji Press)